After leaving the White House for the first time in days, social media users are once again doubting the legitimacy of Donald Trump’s public presence.

The 79-year-old is no stranger to debunking ridiculous rumors, having recently dismissed ‘body double’ conspiracy theories involving his wife, Melania Trump—but the most recent observations circulating on X (formerly Twitter) are linked to the fact that many people believe he is in poor health or even dead.

After calling for reporters to see him in the Oval Office today (September 2) following a multi-day hiatus from the limelight, paparazzi photos of Trump in his present state have only fueled speculation that he is going to quit.

In response to a close-up photo of his bloated face, one X user said, “Maybe it’s just me, but that doesn’t look like Trump at all.”

“Lol, that’s not Trump; that’s his stunt double,” said another, while a third expressed concern: “Okay, maybe he’s dying.”

This is not the first time the ‘body double’ craze has gained momentum. In June, a group shot of Trump at a NATO meeting in the Netherlands raised some concerns online because he appeared smaller than normal standing behind his peers.

“Clearly not the actual one. Not tall enough.” I loved how people pointed out that he’s in multiple places at once,” one remark read.

“That… that is not Trump,” or “When I saw a video from earlier today, I was wondering why he was so much shorter,” said two further individuals.

Despite the oddity of it all, the reasons Trump may seem shorter are likely far less fascinating; he was previously described as 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 224 pounds during his annual medical.

In one photo, Trump is standing next to King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, who is reputedly 6 ft 2 inches tall, and President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is supposed to stand just over 6 ft.

Nonetheless, the US president looks to be somewhat smaller than Willem-Alexander and slightly taller than Erdogan, despite the fact that he should be larger than both.

One theory is that he is the same height he has always been, with the only difference being that he has been standing next to other tallish guys, which makes him appear shorter. Other conspiracy theory skeptics pointed out that Trump’s footwear might contribute to minor height increases or decreases, or it could be a matter of posture.

Meanwhile, Trump quickly dismissed rumors that he had died on Truth Social, writing the usual combative statement: “NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE. Also, DC is a crime-free zone! President DJT.”

This was in response to a MAGA fan who wrote, “Joe Biden would spend several days without making a public appearance, and the media would declare he’s ‘sharp’ and ‘top of his game.'” Meanwhile, he was wearing diapers and taking a sleep. President Trump has put in more public service hours than any previous president in US history, yet the media freaks out if he vanishes for 24 hours. Comic double standard.”

Vice President JD Vance hasn’t helped matters either, telling USA Today that he’d be pleased to step in if anything tragic occurred to his boss.

“I’ve received a lot of on-the-job training over the previous 200 days, but the president is in excellent health. “He has incredible energy,” he remarked.

“While most of the people who work around the president of the United States are younger than he is, I think that we find that he’s actually the last person to go to sleep, he’s the last person making phone calls at night, and he’s the first person who wakes up and is the first person making phone calls in the morning.”